Nicole smiled and her heartbeat sped up a few beats. “How do you know my soul?”
“The first time I looked into your eyes, I knew I’d found you. A kindred spirit.” He rustled his suit. “Unfortunately for us, the world of the spirit is not always compatible with the world of the material. I believe the immortal Sting once eloquently said, ‘We are spirits, in the material world.’ As such, we still need to pay the bills, so I need to get changed and ready for my day. As do you.” He raised an eyebrow at her.
“Okay, okay.” She stood up.
They hadn’t discussed what she should do about the strange man on her voicemail. Red hadn’t seemed overly concerned about it.
In any case, Nicole decided to ignore the stranger. He could call her but she wouldn’t call him back.
After they’d gotten dressed (she’d been smart enough to pack a small overnight bag this time), Red drove them both to Jameson International.
On the way, Nicole brought up what he’d said earlier about her changing positions at the company. “I don’t want to leave the creative group,” she said, as he flipped radio stations, finally landing on some British sounding person discussing the stock market.
Red swore as they hit traffic. “How is it possible that we’re hitting traffic at this time of morning?”
“Red, did you hear me?”
He glanced at her and pursed his lips tightly. “I liked it better when you called me sir.”
“I’m being serious.”
“So am I,” he quipped.
“I’m not quitting my job,” she said, tilting her chin proudly.
“I never said you should quit, but you’re my fiancé now, and it’s not appropriate for you to work as an intern. It’s not fitting, it’s a lowly position and I won’t stand for it.”
“What would I be doing instead?”
“There’s a public relations position that’s perfect for you. You’d be working directly under me,” he said, a glint in his eye.
“That’s kind of a big step up from being an intern, isn’t it?”
“Perhaps it’s skipping a rung or three on the ladder.”
Nicole shook her head. “I don’t want special treatment. Nobody will respect me if I get preferential treatment as your girlfriend—I mean, fiancé.”
His hands tightened on the wheel. “I’m starting to get annoyed, Nicole.”
“I haven’t earned that position,” she snapped back.
He seethed for a moment, and luckily the traffic broke so he could speed down the highway and let some of his anger out on the road instead of her. Finally, he appeared to have collected his thoughts. “You’re not drawing a salary right now,” he said, his voice even, if a little strained. “Do you want to get an allowance from me, instead of a decent wage and a job you can be proud of?”
He had a point there. Her parents had cut her off financially and she needed to make money. Red had billions at his disposal, but she didn’t simply want to glom on to him, it wasn’t her style.
“I don’t know what to do about my money situation,” she admitted.
“Good,” he said. “I’m glad you’re seeing the light. So you’ll take the PR job, and we’ll pay you a very nice salary; something on the order of ninety-five to start.”
“Ninety-five what?”
“Ninety-five thousand a year.”
She guffawed. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“It’s not a lot of money for New York City,” he replied.
“Well, it’s too much. And I’m not taking that job.”
“Then you’ll take an allowance.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I suppose I’ll keep working with the creative group, but I’ll need to make a little money for it. Just enough so that I can pay my few bills and help Danielle out with rent.”
“Danielle. Your old roommate?”
“My current roommate.”
Red breathed heavily through his nostrils. “You live with me now.”
“I’m going to have to give her some money, at least a month’s rent to help out until she finds a replacement for me.”
“I’ll take care of it,” he told her, turning onto 5th Avenue, where traffic was getting congested once again. He slowed to a crawl.
“I can’t let you do that, Red.”
“You’re being ridiculous, now.” He glanced sideways at her. “You don’t have any money, and I have more than I know what to do with.”
“I can’t let you just take over everything. I need to still have some kind of independence. I need to earn it.”
“Oh, you will,” he smirked.
“Not like that.”
“Fine,” he sighed. “I suppose you’ll have to learn the hard way then.”
“I always do.”
“I’ll speak with Edward this morning and let him know that you’ll be added as a permanent member of his team. You won’t be an intern anymore, you’ll be Assistant to the Art Director, Remi Danvers.”
Nicole clapped her hands together. “That’s perfect. I love Remi.”
“How wonderful for you,” he said, sarcastically. “You’ll only make about thirty-six thousand a year,” he told her.